While giving a presentation to a few colleagues on digital today, I talked a lot about how the App Store from Apple is changing the game for mobile devices. As a user, I can go on everyday and download thousands of applications (for free or a nominal sum) that enhance my mobile experience about 1000%.

I love the App store and go to it daily. I'm addicted to testing out new apps (especially GPS ones) and enjoy seeing how random developers are using this device to change the world of mobile.

During the presentation, a friend asked me about brands and iPhone applications. Is it worth creating? Should all brands run to this new medium and start testing stuff out?

No. Definitely not.

In Canada, iPhone penetration might be around 200-400K (based on Rogers quarterly wireless business reports). Although that number is going to increase rapidly, it's still an early adopter crowd. Brands like Swiffer might want to stay away. But tech related products might want to jump in (cell phone manufacturers can you hear me?)

Audi, always a brand trying to innovate in terms of advertising, made the jump quickly - launching the first car manufacturing gaming app that allowed you to test out the new Audi 2009 A4. Decent game and because it was a category first, it generated a lot of buzz. Nice idea, in any case.

Cue the followers.

MINI has done some great work in the past but their new iPhone application (shown below) misses the mark. Not only does the game look boring as hell, I really have no idea how it ties back to the 'coolness' of the brand. Why not do something different? Drive through the streets of London or go places (that are super small) that no other car could get into?

Audi 1. Mini 0.

Just remember - most people don't want to engage with your brand. They like free, cool stuff and they love their iPhone but don't just make something to be there - make something with a purpose that adds value to the user. Sounds basic, doesn't it?

In my ongoing quest to change media planning (I'm not in media, nor to I have a specific desire to be), one of my new rants is about time.

When television emerged in the mid-1900's as the new, dominant consumer medium, ad buying revolved around time. What time were the top shows on and how could I ensure that my spot was in the middle of them? This broadcast model still exists today. Major networks - whether it's CTV or NBC - value their media space by time and broadcast content. Weekly lists are published to show advertisers what the Top 10 TV shows of the week were and guess what? The better the show, the more the ad costs to buy and the easier it is for consumers to watch (usually between 8-11PM on Monday-Friday).

With the emergence of the Web and the PVR, the question of time fell by the wayside. Now that consumers could consume content whenever they wanted, time became less of an issue. Advertisers were more concerned about getting their products into the actual content to avoid the apocaplyse of the fast-forward button than buying the right placements - even though recent neuro-studies have shown that brand integration within movies and TV shows doesn't exactly well...work.

When display advertising became one of the main, revenue models for websites, media companies took the old model and applied it to the web - tell us the number of impressions you want or the number of clicks and we will give you the price. Then you're ads will run on our site for the duration of the campaign period. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Time is not a concern. Final results (impresisons mainly) are.

But why can't a brand buy their executions based on site time usage. Why can't we have our ads served at the peak of a site's traffic on any given day?

A few years ago, I was working on a campaign for a national brand. The product revolved around music and we were targeting youth wherever possible (a ton of mass, loads of TV GRP's and, of course, a run-in-the-mill online display campaign). After doing a quick Google search, I found that youth web usage to music download sites peaked between 3-5PM on weekdays. Why, then, could we not have our banners run heavy on music sites during this time and not throughout the entire buy?

Because it was never a question media had considered and, as a result, the site had no idea how to handle a request like that. So they didn't. And our display ads just ran the entire time. Generating the industry average 99.95% fail rate (assuming that the average CTR for a display campaign is around 0.05%).

So here we are. Forced into a world where we don't buy the best time but just assume because we are on a popular site (like Facebook) that all ad impressions are created equal. They aren't. And I really hope someone out there in the media world is trying to do something about it.

Monday

This campaign is exceptional. After seeing these spots Carnival is the cruise line that owns fun. I can't remember a single cruise ship commercial. I imagine I have seen one before but nothing worth noting.

Its great how people take notice when you have something interesting to say...cue next post.

Sunday

Big thanks to Mike for sending us a link this social network presentation. It's a holistic view of some of the changes (some identity related) that social networks will be going through over the next few years.

Essentially - you're network and friends are going to come with you, everywhere. Sure, you can change your privacy settings but if you want customized content based on your interests, network and desires you're going to have to give up some of your personal details.